tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3578371666134702214.post8868739244687184538..comments2024-03-14T09:35:54.372+05:30Comments on Bookish Indulgences: #GuestPost :: Basic Elements of a Crime Novel by Graham SmithDebdatta Dasgupta http://www.blogger.com/profile/12575979550597861075noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3578371666134702214.post-37357037198420301502012-12-11T20:17:46.937+05:302012-12-11T20:17:46.937+05:30Excellent Post Graham! Very informative and enjoya...Excellent Post Graham! Very informative and enjoyable. I really like the red herring part as I absolutely love those in the books I read. Well done.<br /><br />Paul R. HewlettPaul R. Hewletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07145572707588548572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3578371666134702214.post-63442265691235130672012-12-11T15:58:40.726+05:302012-12-11T15:58:40.726+05:30Sorry Graham, I know you're not Dective Bosch....Sorry Graham, I know you're not Dective Bosch.AJ Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02765836513403665199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3578371666134702214.post-22750015794787271222012-12-11T15:52:37.029+05:302012-12-11T15:52:37.029+05:30I can think, mate, of one machine gun-toting Grand...I can think, mate, of one machine gun-toting Grandma who might take umbrage to the "rubbish" tag being applied to her, Ma Barker. Seriously I think you're dead on the money for the PI story. The dictum for PI stories is that the detective should be one step behind the bad guy until the conclusion (or a very short time before the conclusion) of the novel. I think that's the reason we tend to like the PI character in particular because we are even with the him in gaining knowledge and eventually maybe we see what's coming before he does (The old, Don't Go Down In That Dark Cellar! trope)and that makes him a sympathetic figure with whom we can identify. That's also why most successful PI stories are written in first person -- sometimes in tight third from an outside observer POV (Holmes and Watson, Nero Wolfe and Archie). <br />In thrillers the bad guy is light years ahead of the protagonist so third person is usual. Example: When Michael Connelly's character Harry Bosch was fired from the LAPD and started his own PI business, Connelly changed the POV from tight third to first person. When Bosch came back to the Force, Connelly wrote him in third person again.<br />This writing crap is really hard to think about, Harry. I think I'll stop now. Hope I wasn't stuffed <i>too</i> full of wild mountain blueberries. AJ Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02765836513403665199noreply@blogger.com